Self-priming centrifugal pump



May 25, 1948. c. LONGENECKER EI'AL SELF-PRIMIHG CENTRIFUGAL PUMP Filed Sept. 14, 1944 Gilbert WQuaJt,

Charles [.Lozzgerwc/cer and Patented May 25, 1948 SELF-PBIMIN G CENTRIFUGAL PUMP Charles I. Longenecker, Wauwatosa, and Gilbert W. Quast, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Chain Belt Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation ofwiaco Application September 14, 1944, Serial No. 554,070

6 Claims. (Cl. 103-113) The invention relates to rotary pumps and has for its principal object the provision of an improved mode of constructing liquid pumps of the centrifugal self-priming type.

In prior U. S, Patent No. 1,989,061, granted January 22, 1935, there is disclosed a centrifugal self-priming pump characterized by the presence of a vane or blade operating in conjunction with the pump impeller to increase the priming elliciency of the pump, and also to permit of the use of impellers of different diameters in a pump casing of a given size without loss of priming efliciency; and one of the features of the present invention resides in an improved construction and mounting of such blade.

Other features of the invention will appear as the description proceeds and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

For purposes of disclosure one form of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the views, and in which: Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of a light-weight self-priming centrifugal pump embodying the features of the invention; l v

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, taken approximately on the planes indicated by the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional-elevational view on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, illustrating the present valve structure for controlling the priming liquid;

Fig. 4 is a, sectional-plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, taken on the plane indicated by the line 44 in said figure, looking down; and

Fig. 5 is a detail elevational view of the improved peeler" blade structure.

Referring more particularly to the said drawing, the pump comprises a casing I 0 of stamped or drawn sheet metal having perimetric walls H and a front end wall l2, which latter is formed with a pair of openings l3 and I4. As will appear more fully below, the opening 13 receives a portion of an inlet conduit structure, while the opening ll affords access to the priming liquid control valve and is normally closed by a removable plate 15. A nipple l6, constituting the discharge port of the casing, extends through and is welded to the upper casing wall and has a T-fltting ll threaded thereon. The discharge line from the pump is connected to one branch lfliof the said fitting, while another branch I! thereof is utilized for the initial introduction of priming liquid into the casing, this branch however being normally closed by a plug 20.

As initially formed the casing III is open at the rear end but in the completed pump a back plate 21 is introduced within and welded to the perimetric walls ll of the casing, as indicated at 22. In the preferred mode of construction this back plate 2| constitutes a sub-assembly base member to which most of the non-moving elements of the pump are attached before introduction into the casing and the welding of the latter to the plate. The elements which are thus sub-assembled on the back plate are the impeller chamber 23, the inlet conduit structure 24 and the priming water conduit 25.

While the impeller chamber 23 may be fabricated from a volute strip of sheet metal and a separate front plate or wall welded thereto, as disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 444,891, filed May 28, 1942, now matured into Patent 2,375,802 of May 15, 1945, by Charles I. Longenecker, the said chamber is here shown as a sheet metal stamping having a front wall 30 and an integral volute peripheral wall 3| which latter may be formed with a flange 32 adapted to fit against and be welded to the inner face of the'back plate 2|. The front wall 30 of the said chamber is provided with an inlet port 33, and its rearward face may be provided with a removable wear plate 34 having a port 35 registering with the port 33, as will be readily understood from Fig. 1.

- The impeller chamber element 23 is further formed to provide a discharge conduit or stack 36 which, as will be clear from Fig. 2, extends tangentially upward from the chamber in a directon inclined to the vertical and terminates in an inclined discharge port 31 disposed directly below and in proximity to the nipple it. While the stack 36 thus tends to discharge fluid from the impeller chamber directly into the outlet passage, thereby reducing eddy currents, its port 3'! nevertheless affords communication between the stack and the interior of the pump casing III-- which as is well understood in the art constitutes the priming liquid reservoirwhereby when the pump loses its prime, liquid from the impeller chamber may be circulated back through such reservoir while air entrained with the liquid may be separated and escape through the discharge passages l6, l8.

The inlet conduit element 24 comprises a sheet metal tube, preferably of the transverse conformatiqn shown in Fig. 2, one end of which is into the impeller chamber 23.

' prime mover.

- welded as at it to the forward face of the impeller chamber wall around its inlet port 32. This conduit inclines upwardly from the said port, as shown in Fig. 1, and its forward end is welded as at 4| to an annulus 42 which, in the final assembly, is introduced into the opening ll in the front wall 12 of the casing I II, and welded to the periphery of the said opening as at 43.

The priming liquid conduit 25 is a short length of pipe or tubing let into and welded to the bottom of the inlet conduit 24, with its discharge port 4' in proximity to the inlet port 33 of the impeller chamber 23. At its inlet end the tube '25 removably carries a check valve assembly which controls the admission of priming liquid from the casing Ill. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, this assembly comprises a bar or arm provided at one end with a port Ii and a projecting collar 82 which is slidably receivable upon the lowerend of the pipe 25, a set screw 58 being provided for retaining the parts in assembled position. At its other end the arm 60 has secured to it, as by bolts 54, one end of a resilient valve tongue 55, a pad or washer 56 being interposed between the two to space them substantially as shown in Fig. 3. The

free end of the tongue 55 extends across the port ii and is adapted to seat against the under face of the arm 50 in response to an increase in vacuum conditions in the conduits 24 and 25 as primingof the pump is completed, to close the port II and cut oil flow of priming liquid from the casing ll-tothe conduit 24. Except for the'mode of mounting by means of the collar 52, this valve assembly is similar to that disclosed in prior U. S.

Patent No. 2,217,380, granted October 8, 1940, on an application filed by Frank S. Pedder and Charles I. Longenecker.

The priming control valve assembly just described may or may not be mounted upon the pipe' 28 before the sub-assembly, comprising the back 40 plate 2|, impeller chamber 23, inlet conduit 24 g pipe 25, is introduced into and perand p manen secured to the casing ill by the welds 22 and 43, since as will be clear from Fig. 1, the lower end of the pipe 25 is adjacent the opening l4 of the casing wall l2 and the said valve assembly may thus be introduced through the said opening and positioned upon the pipe after the subassembly has been mounted in the casing. The valve assembly may also be removed and replaced through this opening should adjustment or repair of the valve become necessary. i

The back plate 2| is provided with an opening 8. through which the impeller Si is introduced The said opening isnormally closed by a disk or annulus 82 having a tubular extension 63 in which is mounted a suitable seal structure 84 for preventing escape of water from the impeller chamber around the impeller shaft 65. The pump here illustrated lsintended to be mounted, by means of a flange 66 of the tubular extension 63. directlyupon a portion 61 of the housing of an internal combustion engine or other prime mover, andin this instance the'shaft which carries the impeller ii is merely an extension of the output shaft of such Above the impeller opening ill the back plate 2| is provided with a vertical slot 10 which, as will be understood fromFigs. land 2, opens into the interior of discharge conduit or stack 36 of the impeller chamber 23. This slot is normally closed by a plate ll secured to the outer face of the back plate 2| by bolts 12 which extend through elongated inclined apertures 13 formedin bosses 14.

with which the plate II is provided. A peeler" blade I! is attached to the front face of the plate II by a neck I6 which neck extends through the slot ll so that the blade may be positioned within the stack 36 substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with its lower beveled edge ll just clearing the periphery of the impeller 6|. The elongated slots 13 provide for upward and downward adjustment of the blade substantially radially of the impeller axis to accommodate impellers of different diameters and/or to compensate for wear of the blade. Obviously .these adjustments are made from the exterior of the pump casing without dismantling the pump; and the blade may be withdrawn from the casing through the slot Ill for sharpening of-its beveled edge, repair or replacement.

- A flanged inlet nipple 8|! is detachably secured to the annulus 42 of the conduit element 24, with a sheet SI of rubber or equivalent material being interposed between them. This sheet has a tongue 82 cut therein which, together with a weight 83 attached thereto, constitutes an inlet check valve which seats against the inner end 84 of the nipple III, as will be clear from Fig. 1.

limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is: v 1. In a self-priming centrifugal pump comprising a priming-liquid reservoir having a wall provided with an aperture, an impeller chamber within said reservoir, and an impeller within said chamber: a peeler blade disposed within the reservoir-andchamber for co-operation with the impeller to increase the priming efficiency of the pump; a supporting member for said blade, positioned to close said aperture and having a portion extending therethrough said member being movable in substantial parallelism tosaid reservoir wall to variably position the blade relative to said impeller; and means exterior the reservoir ad- .lustably securing said supporting member to said reservoir wall, whereby the blade may be rigidly securedin desired'position relative to the impeller without dismantling the pump.

2. In a self-priming centrifugal pump comprising a priming-liquid reservoir having a wall provided with an aperture, an impeller chamber carried by said wall within the reservoir, and an impeller within said chamber: a peeler blade disposed within the reservoir and chamber for cooperation with. the impeller to increase the primingefliciency of the pump; a plate-like member removably secured to and adjustable along the exterior of said reservoir wall, said member being of a size suflicient to close said aperture in any position of the member; and a connection'between said member and blade, extending through said aperture. 7 Y

3. In a self-priming centrifugal pump, a casing providing a primingjiquid reservoir having an outlet port, said casing including a wall provided with an elongated aperture; a White impeller chamber within said reservoir, having a tangential dischargepassage extending along said wall toward said discharge port, said aperture opening into said passage; an impeller insaid chamber; a peeler blade disposed in said discharge passage for co-operation with the impeller to increase the priming emciency of the pump, said blade having a portion extending through and movable in said elongated aperture; a plate-like member attached to said blade portion and disposed along the exterior face of said reservoir wall in position to close said aperture therein; and means securing the plate-like member to the wall for adjustment therealong, whereby the peeler blade may be variably positioned relative to the impeller.

4. In a self-priming centrifugal pump, an openbacked sheet metal priming-reservoir casing having perimetric walls and a front wall provided with an opening therein; a back plate arranged to register with the open back portion of the easing; a sheet metal impeller chamber secured to the forward face of the back plate, having an inlet conduit projecting forwardly therefrom and adapted to register with the opening in the front wall of the casing, the back plate, impeller chamber and inlet conduit being insertable as a subassembled unit through the open back of the easing; and means hermetically attaching the peri- I metric walls of the casing to the back plate, and the front casing wall to the inlet conduit.

5. In a self-priming centrifugal pump, a priming-reservoir chamber having perimetric walls and openings at each end thereof; an end plate adapted to register with one of said openings; an impeller chamber secured to the inner face of said plate having an inlet conduit projecting axially therefrom and away from the inner face of said end plate, said impeller chamber and inlet conduit being insertable through one of said openings whereby to register the end plate with its corresponding opening; and means hermetically attaching the casing and the end plate, and also the casing and the outer sides of the inlet condu t,

opening being sufllciently larger than said impell-- er chamber and conduit to accommodate their insertion therethrough as a sub-assembly mounted on said plate; and means'hermetically attaching the priming-reservoir chamber to the plate and to the inlet conduit when the latter is in registry with its corresponding casing opening.

CHARLES I. LONGENECKER. GILBERT W. QUAST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 26,913 Great Britain m-.. Nov. 19, 1910 

